Rules Question: Rain of Steel and similarly worded powers

[babinro]

Rain of Steel Fighter Attack Level 5
Daily: Martial, Stance,Weapon
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you takes
1[W] damage, as long as you are able to make opportunity attacks.


I'm confused about exactly how this works and similar powers work. My personal interpretation is this:

Any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you will take 1[W] damage from your weapon so long as you haven't made an opportunity attack against that particular foe yet this turn.

If this is true, how should you DM this? My understanding is that an enemy knows of the ability that effects them, does this mean that all enemies would avoid the fighter like the plague just as soon as he effects one of them with this (assuming these are intelligent monsters and not mindless undead)?

 

[Chen_93]

Rain of Steel Fighter Attack Level 5
Daily: Martial, Stance,Weapon
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you takes
1[W] damage, as long as you are able to make opportunity attacks.


I'm confused about exactly how this works and similar powers work. My personal interpretation is this:

Any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you will take 1[W] damage from your weapon so long as you haven't made an opportunity attack against that particular foe yet this turn.

If this is true, how should you DM this? My understanding is that an enemy knows of the ability that effects them, does this mean that all enemies would avoid the fighter like the plague just as soon as he effects one of them with this (assuming these are intelligent monsters and not mindless undead)?

The creatures would know the effect of the power (the flavour usually says something about you swinging your weapons around you too) so yeah they'd try to get away I'd imagine if they were intelligent.

Note also, opportunity attacks go per opponent's turn so there is no way you could have made an OA against the opponent adjacent to you before it took the damage since the damage occurs at the start of his turn (before he could provoke any OAs). The OA qualifier I believe is so that if you are afflicted with a condition like blind/dazed/stunned, where you cannot take OAs at all, you cannot deal damage with this power.

 

[fba827]

What Chen_93 said.

Basically think of it as constantly and wildly swinging your blade around you -- almost as if you're creating an aura effect around you (except instead of energy damage it is blade damage). So a creature will clearly see the wildly swinging blades and know that they will get cut if they stop and stand around you.

 

[Kordeth]

1) Not quite. "As long as you are able to make opportunity attacks" doesn't specify "against the target." This ability functions unless you're affected by some condition that prohibits you from taking OAs.

2) Yes, it's a smart idea for enemies to avoid the fighter while the fighter has this ability active. However, since it affects enemies at the beginning of their turn, it's still easy to affect critters with it.

 

[Bison]

And just because they try to avoid you doesnt mean they will be successful, you can alwasy move back adjacent to them, and when they try to get away, you can use your combat superiority, or combat challenge if they are marked.

all in all, seems a win-win for the fighter whether they try to stand toe to toe with you and suck up the extra damage, or if they try to get away.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm confused about exactly how this works and similar powers work. My personal interpretation is this:

Any enemy that starts its turn adjacent to you will take 1[W] damage from your weapon so long as you haven't made an opportunity attack against that particular foe yet this turn.

Which means any enemy that start's it's turn adjacent to you will take damage, since OAs happen on an enemies turn, and you're limitted to one per /thier/ turn. At the start of the turn, you cannot have taken an OA against that enemy, that turn.

What the phrasing of the power indicates is that you don't do damage with it if you are under a status effect or condition that prevents you making OAs, such as being stunned, fro instance.

If this is true, how should you DM this? My understanding is that an enemy knows of the ability that effects them, does this mean that all enemies would avoid the fighter like the plague just as soon as he effects one of them with this (assuming these are intelligent monsters and not mindless undead)?

4e seems to me to be intended to be played 'above board.' That is, everyone should be aware of what the powers being used against them will do. So an enemy should realize that if he moves adjacent to the fighter, or the fighter moves adjacent to him, he'll get hurt while the fighter is in that stance. Thus, avoiding the fighter would make a lot of sense for enemies that have a sense of self preservation and don't have a good reason to endure that damage.

As much as an enemy may try to avoid being damaged by such a power, though, the fighter can still move adjacent to an enemy, or the enemy may find itself involuntarily moved next to the fighter. Since it takes damage at the start of it's turn, moving away doesn't help (that turn, it'll help avoid damage /next/ turn).

 

[DracoSuave]

Which means any enemy that start's it's turn adjacent to you will take damage, since OAs happen on an enemies turn, and you're limitted to one per /thier/ turn. At the start of the turn, you cannot have taken an OA against that enemy, that turn.

What the phrasing of the power indicates is that you don't do damage with it if you are under a status effect or condition that prevents you making OAs, such as being stunned, fro instance.

4e seems to me to be intended to be played 'above board.' That is, everyone should be aware of what the powers being used against them will do. So an enemy should realize that if he moves adjacent to the fighter, or the fighter moves adjacent to him, he'll get hurt while the fighter is in that stance. Thus, avoiding the fighter would make a lot of sense for enemies that have a sense of self preservation and don't have a good reason to endure that damage.

As much as an enemy may try to avoid being damaged by such a power, though, the fighter can still move adjacent to an enemy, or the enemy may find itself involuntarily moved next to the fighter. Since it takes damage at the start of it's turn, moving away doesn't help (that turn, it'll help avoid damage /next/ turn).

They should generally try to avoid fighters anyways, as soon as they've determined his combat style. Being next to fighters is bad news for a monster -anyways- and the fighter can -keep- the monster there. This power is just another way for the fighter to express that.

A good fighter player knows how to make it -hard- to be avoided.

 

[spinmd]

Would this ability be considered an opportunity attack, and therefore, would a fighter not be able to use Combat Superiority on an opponent who runs away on their turn, as he already hit the opponent with Rain of Steel?

 

[chitzk0i]

Would this ability be considered an opportunity attack, and therefore, would a fighter not be able to use Combat Superiority on an opponent who runs away on their turn, as he already hit the opponent with Rain of Steel?

No. This power doesn't use up an OA, but if you are, for instance, dazed, it stops working until you aren't dazed.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Presumably it could be called 'Mook Mower' too - bring on those legionnaire devils, eh?